Retired cop Mike Rose chomped on an unlit stogie and took one last peek at his cards, then shoved the remainder of his poker chips toward the dealer.

“All in,” he announced.

Another player called the bet. Rose shook his head ruefully, turned up a losing hand and muttered, “He just caught me bluffing.”

The exchange Thursday night occurred not at an Indian gaming center or a Las Vegas casino but in a Sierra Vista storefront with a sign advertising Judge Lee’s Arizona Card Room & Social Club.

The place, open every night, is run by Harold S. Lee, a former Maricopa County justice of the peace who admits he is risking arrest if state authorities decide his operation is illegal.

The 64-year-old Tombstone resident, who insists his poker league is legitimate, says he is willing to face charges to prove it. And after his two years of operating poker parlors with impunity, that fate may be in the cards: Attorney General Terry Goddard announced last week that he is considering criminal charges.

“If that’s what it takes, let’s get this thing in the courthouse,” Lee declared. “They’ll lose because poker isn’t (illegal) gambling. . . . I don’t think they can get a jury to convict.”

Lee’s operation represents the growth in poker’s popularity in recent years, including the game’s increasing move beyond the casino to other venues, from the Internet to college dorm rooms. At the same time, Congress adopted a law to stop gambling on the Web, and authorities from New York to San Diego tried cracking down on backroom operators.

Rather than hide from the law, Lee delivered letters to state authorities advising them of his legal stand. He also advertises the poker games on an Internet site (www.arizonacardroom.com), which includes diatribes against the state gaming statutes: “We need the light of day shined on this disastrous public policy. We have had our true heritage stolen from us. We have had powers and authorities illegally usurped from our charter.”

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Author Contact Info: Dennis Wagner, The Arizona Republic